The Simpsons "Sleeping With the Enemy" Talkback (Spoilers)

[Fone Bone]

New Simpsons tonight.

The Simpsons "Sleeping With the Enemy"

From the TV Guide description:

Bully Nelson Muntz is the lucky benificiary when Marge feels her mothering skills are lost on her own kids; teasing puts Lisa on a diet. Nancy Cartwright, Julie Kavner, Yeardley Smith.

The Lisa subplot sounds VERY interesting. Let's hope the current writers can actually write "kid logic" in the way of such classic episodes as "Lemon of Troy". We'll see. Comments?

[Juu-kuchi]

It worked on some level, and everything worked out in the end...

A little TOO well...

B-.

[SirLemming]

Ha ha, I liked the twist on the Tootsie Pop analogy.

There was a lot of good stuff here. I just wish they were a little less afraid to take themselves seriously. They almost ruined some of the emotional scenes here by just refusing to allow a minute to pass without a gag. I could've done without Nelson's "He said 'Smell ya later,' but he never smelled me again!" and "She went to Las Vegas to be an actress, but she has no range!"

This episode was a real mix. The characters all felt a little weird here, especially at the end of the episode. Oddly enough, it's almost like they were all a little... ...too interesting? If that makes sense? I almost wish this were an hour-long episode. I think what I'm saying is they tried to do too much in one episode (but this time with the characters instead of with the plot), but I'm not sure.

This episode really confuses me.

[JTurner954]

Many one-liners throughout and the occasional in-joke (here I am rolling my eyes over the Streisand song and then Bart acknowledges it) made this a great episode. Plus we get an insight into Neilson's family. Though I wasn't deeply into the storyline with Lisa's weight, I did like the jokes around it (especially with Homer drawing himself). A good representation of how I view The Simpsons to this day.

Overall grade: A

[Quagmire]

I missed last week's ep, so I can't judge the season yet, but I liked tonight's episode.

There was a non-speaking appearance by Grandma Bouvier, and it was fun to see the backstory behind Nelson's father after knowing that he left from the Calvary Scouts episode at the end of season 14.

I don't know about the Lisa and Anorexia storyline. I think they should have stayed away from that one.

Also, there was the "How to draw Homer" lesson in act one. "For some reason my hair and ear form an M and a G."

[Classic Speedy]

Animation: Rough Draft (some great work in this one, especially in the scenes where the camera rotates around something, like in Nelson's song)

What can I say, this was an excellent episode. It was like combining "This Little Wiggy" and "Bart the Mother" and taking out the weak areas of both of those. Everyone was in character, it had a lot of genuine laughs, and even the unexpected reunion ending didn't seem badly done. About the only things bringing this episode down are Ralph's "duck duck goose" shenanigans (it was funny the first time but the one right before the commercial break goes on WAY too long. Trust me, that wasn't a gag that got funnier the longer it went, unlike Peter Griffin's painful and hilarious hisses in "Wasted Talent") and Lisa's subplot wasn't really taken seriously enough to have much of an impact. It had its moments, and is certainly better than what the writers would've resorted to in Season 11, but it still lacked a certain "emotion" that was seen in such episodes as "Brother From the Same Planet". Otherwise, very well done. GRADE: A-

EDIT: That "Homer drawing himself" gag is one of the funniest gags in recent memory. :D

[AnimatedSnow47]

Duck! Duck! Duck! Duck! Duck! Duck! Duck! Duck! Duck! Duck! Duck! Duck! Duck! :anime:

As you can probably tell, Ralph Wiggum totally stole the show. His crazy "Duck, Duck...Duck" antics are the best running joke I've seen in The Simpsons in years! It was also good to see Martin again, smart as usual. ;)

When Homer draws himself, the reference to his hair and ears making an "M and G" was a hilarious fourth-wall shattering moment. And, was that how to draw Homer? :D

Sherri and Terri again? Boy, it's also been a long while since we've seen them. I have to admit even some of the many butt jokes were funny, if only for the sheer volume and silliness of it.

And, that ending...ooh, I love it. "I want closure!"

****1/2

[T.T.Raven4]

Agreed AS47 It's been a long time since we've seen Sherri and Terri.

The butt thing, oh geez, cmon are the producers that desperate? Pathetic.

I just noticed Homers hair and ear have the initials MG (Matt Groening) It's a pretty cool thing if you pick it up.

OMG! NELSONS DAD! I love how he dissapeared. It's kinda cool to see Mr Muntz.


*** stars.

[Phantasm]

LOVED It!

Hadn't seen The Simpsons in quite some time but this was all good. Nelson's mom is such a ***** though...

[Mog]

So much to love. Homer talking to himself and eating the sandwich was awesome. Nelson forcing Bart to eat the pancakes was also gold.

A-

[simpspin]

My cut and pasted review:

Well, first and foremost, the animation was stellar and was quite possibly the best amnimated episode to date. There was much detail both in the coloring/shadowing and in the characters expressions they almost seemed ALIVE. Lauren McMullin (sorry if I butchered her name) is THE BEST director in the show's history.
Onto the actual story itself, the in-depth study of who Nelson is (and WHY he is) was quite interesting. Nelson's angst about his 'papa' leaving is again revived and his relationship with trashy mother is again brought to the surface. However, unlike the last few scenes we've seen, Nelson's mother is drawn a bit different from her previous incarnations. This time she's more 'in-shape', but she's more irritable, compared to the more laid-back 'trailer-trash' version of herself and Nelson's dad looks more like a Drunk Father who looks like a reject from the Donna Reed Show compared to a brutish coach back in Season 9. No matter how is parents are drawn, the predicament Nelson is in is a stagnant one.

When Nelson is introduced to the 'stable' family structure of the Simpson family, he's lost and he becomes a rebel who looses his counteractive, negative personality and begins to reluctantly fit in. In contrast, Bart has taken Marge for granted and doesn't feel loved enough, thus, begins to drift away from Marge, who he feels is now a square.

When Bart's world is usurped and Nelson becomes Marge's favorite, Bart's afraid of Marge's rejection, and he's also afraid of getting his ass kicked. So, to remedy the situation, Bart--very quickly--finds Nelson's father to get Nelson out of the house. Unfortunetly, the reasoning behind the 'return' of Father Muntz was bit rushed and too silly, IMO.

Anyway, a silly ending ruined what could've been the best episode in YEARS. For once the writer toned down a lof the craziness and make a coherent episode, but the ending...? Eh.

GRADE: B/B+ (A minus, but the rushed conclusion messed it up)

[Hatter]

Oddly enough, this went from a typically lame episode to a decent one. It would have been a great episode if they hadn't waited until it was half over to bring Nelson into the scene. Why they took 15 minutes to establish "Marge needs someone to mother, Lisa thinks she's fat", I'll never know. They could have done away with the "Bart's party" subplot, which went nowhere.

[fallen_hikari]

I laughed at lots of the petty gags and jokes, but nothing really stood out. I suppose the episode was decent. Loved Homer drawing himself though....

Has anyone else noticed that in every episode thus far, Ralph has made an appearance of some sort with a strange joke/gag...it's like they couldn't think of anyone else to put in... I think they're relying on his character a tad much. Don't know, maybe it's just me.

[SirLemming]

Has anyone else noticed that in every episode thus far, Ralph has made an appearance of some sort with a strange joke/gag...it's like they couldn't think of anyone else to put in... I think they're relying on his character a tad much. Don't know, maybe it's just me.Yes, but they've done worse.

[Fone Bone]

Quite simply the best Simpsons episode since The Wandering Juvie. Almost perfect.

As was noted act one didn't really go anywhere but that's par for course for the series. (Ralph's duck duck duck was SOOO cute though.) Once we got into act two and Nelson arrived the entire show gelled together in a way not seen since the golden age. Even Lisa's eating disorder made sense by the end of the episode. Everything came together here including referencing Nelson's father's abandonment. Homer whining that not everything was tied up neatly was hilarious.

Truly a fantastic episode. I'm docking half a star for a first act that wasn't as strong as the rest of the episode, but really, that's just quibbling. ****1/2.

[SirLemming]

Oh, I have to add that Marge was characterized a lot better in this episode than in last week's.

[Master Moron]

Uhhh...doesn't Lisa know that big buts are in style? Hasn't she ever heard of J Lo? Anyway, all I have to say is...

"I like big butts and I cannot lie.
You other brothers can't deny,
that when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist,
and a round thing in your face,
you get sprung,
want to pull up tough,
cause you notice that butt was stuffed."

[Pepperidge]

Wow, surprisingly decent episode. Although it really bothers me how they can't keep Nelson's father's voice OR character design consistent.

Say, wasn't his voice done by Phil Hartman the first time?

[Scythemantis]

Crap! I missed it! And it apparently DIDN'T suck!?

....So they explored Nelson a little more, eh? That's probably why it turned out better (from the sound of it) than other episodes. There are plenty of characters we know very little about beyond their catchphrases.

[SirLemming]

Say, wasn't his voice done by Phil Hartman the first time?Actually, my roommate, by pure coincidence, just started watching that very episode. And yes, it was Phil Hartman.
Actually, pretty much EVERYONE in this episode seems to be voiced by Phil Hartman.

[Peter Paltridge]

Well, this one was pretty good I must say. Most of the Nelson jokes hit on target and he only acted out of character once (when he said his mom ran away to become an actress and "she doesn't have the raaange!" I'm really beginning to loathe these "have a simple character say something he/she couldn't know about for laughs" gags). Ralph's Duck Duck Goose game was especially funny because that is seriously how I used to play the game. I was too afraid to have someone chase me so I would do that for like over a minute. :p

However: whoever had the idea that Nelson should sing, even for 30 seconds, should be fired. (It was Dana Gould, right?)

[Draven]

Crap! I missed it! And it apparently DIDN'T suck!?

Imagine that! A show you watch religously and actually ENJOY! The mind boggles at such possibilites!

[ToOn~g@l]

This was an okay episode but Lisa's reason for wanting to be thin was kinda dumb. Personally I think Sherri and Terri would not know fat even if it bit them in the face, besides everyones butts are big when we bend over. The Nelson plot was alright, and I don't blame him for being a bully since his mom seems to reject him all the time.

I also liked the joke about Homer drawing himself that was just silly and for some reason I thought it was funny when Nelson and Marge were at the Zoo and Nelson says "Ha ha you're nocturnal" he said something else after that but I forgot what it was and it was just as funny.

I give this episode an A-.

[Mek]

Could it be that the Simpsons isn't sucking anymore?

I loved this episode. I think pretty much everyone took the words out of my mouth, and I actually *liked* Marge and Nelson for once. =]

A. :)

[Bartman3010]

Phil Hartman was everywhere in those days...

[Neo Yi]

Except for a few weirdness, I felt a sense of like the old "Golden Age" of Simpsons when I saw this one. It was almost perfect (like Nelson's desire for his father, Lisa and her weight problem, etc), while others were so weird (Lisa rolling on the cake). I must say though, Ralph's "Duck Duck Goose" was hilarious.
~Neo

[MovieGuy]

Wow, people actually like it.

The biggest problem I've seen with the past season and this is the endings.

Examples:

Bart-Mangled Banner: The episode (which wasn't that good in the first place) ended with them leaving America and deciding that they miss the good ol' Us and come back as Immigrants. WTF?
Fraudcast News: The whole town starts to make their own newspapers.
All's Fair In Oven War: James Caan Godfather-esque ending.
This ended perfectly. Best this season.

Grade: A


Sleeping With The Enemy
Treehouse Of Horror XV
All's Fair In Oven War

[Draven]

I also liked the joke about Homer drawing himself that was just silly and for some reason I thought it was funny when Nelson and Marge were at the Zoo and Nelson says "Ha ha you're nocturnal" he said something else after that but I forgot what it was and it was just as funny.

I give this episode an A-.

Nelson: "Ha ha! You're nocturnal!"
Marge: "You know, you don't have to impress me ALL the time."
Nelson: "Ha ha! I'm letting down my defenses. Ha ha!"

[Fone Bone]

My favorite exchange was at the end:

Bart: "So I guess this means you won't be beating me up at school anymore."

Nelson (sadly): "If only it were that simple."

[90'sCartoonMan]

Definitely one of the better episodes of the last few seasons. I like how they didn't overuse Homer, and as a result, he got two of my favorite jokes (drawing himself and the ending).

Poor Nelson, but at least he got a happy ending. His family life has been made fun of for years (since season 4 "Haw haw, your mom's a jailbird!" "So's yours" "Oh yeah, let's play"). I don't think Ralph was that funny this week, but Moe was great! I wonder what would've happened if he tried to be a father figure to Nelson.

I think Lisa's plot would've worked a bit better if she was older. I could see that happening to her as a teenager, but not at 8. I think the best part was her reasoning followed by "but that's just what a fat girl would say".

The only weird part was what happened to Nelson's father. Why was Bart dressed like that anyway?

[Nick K.]

One of the better recent episodes. I liked it a lot. :)